Library Unions: a Matrix for Evaluation
by Michael McGrorty, Backwage@aol.com
Evaluating library unionism has always forced the viewer to abandon certain conventions at the start of the undertaking. The library is a different animal than the typical run of union shop, even in the public sector, and even against the background of somewhat analogous operations like the public school. Granting these exceptions, any analysis of library unions is an exercise whose outcome floats within a galaxy of asterisks; nevertheless the library union ought not be exempt from review and constructive criticism.
The following is a useful matrix for evaluation of publicly-funded libraries:
- What concrete benefit has the union brought to the individual librarian--and to the bargaining unit as a whole--which is not merely a part of gains granted by management or achieved by a larger umbrella union for all workers in the city or other structure?
- Which of the larger goals of the library--i.e., those that the organization, its professionals, and management share--has the union helped to further, and to what measurable or observable extent?
- How has the union's activity assisted members in resolving disciplinary problems to the benefit of the membership?
- How has the union affected or influenced work rules and other arrangements within the library structure?
- How active and successful has the union been in acting as an agent for the betterment of library service--as an advocate and lobbyist for funding, and in the adoption of new concepts?
The basic question here, and an inescapable one even given the exception-laden nature of the circumstances, is whether the union has made a significant difference in the main areas of its responsibility. The question is framed by the standard of 'but for' causation: What benefits can we positively ascribe to the union which would not have accrued but for its existence and operation? The standard is the same one by which any union is measured, and will suffice despite the complex nature of public-sector employee relations and the managerial role of the librarian.
For most unionized libraries, the answers to these questions will be less valuable than the examination itself. Often the library union is simply accepted by its membership as a fixture rather than seen as a dynamic element of the profession in which the librarian can or should take a role. Should library unions exist? Should they change? The questions are valid and the answers always dependent upon whether the particular union fills an important role in the life of the librarian and the institution.